Boylan (2) - All united with Jesus at the Cross; He knew and died for each individual sin of our lives

[At the Cross] we were one with him. There he saw every single one of us and every single event in our lives. There he knew, in particular, every single sin of our lives, and made atonement for it, so that there is no sin which cannot be forgiven. This point is of capital importance. We can never exhaust the treasury of our Lord’s satisfaction, nor come to the end of his mercy. It is not merely that he made a general provision for what might happen; he actually satisfied for every single sin we commit. There is a deep mystery involved here. In some way, at least, by his knowledge, we were present and united to him on Calvary, in his death and in his resurrection . . . Perhaps we may glimpse the full reality, if we take literally Saint Paul’s reference to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

Dom M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.R. - from The Mystical Body: The Foundation of the Spiritual Life [quoted in Magnificat, April 2021]

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Boylan (1) - Sacraments unite us to every point in Jesus's life, especially Crucifixion

This moment [the Crucifixion] is the center of all history; it is the focus and the center of all Christian life. In a sense, it stands in juxtaposition with every moment of history, and with every event of each man’s life. One remembers how some maps of the world are drawn in Mercator’s projection so that the North Pole, expanded into a line, is due north of every point on the surface of the globe. The sacramental system has something of this power of extending its pole or center; it “extends” Christ, and also Christ’s sacrifice, so that he is in contact with every point of space and time . . . 

One can take any single moment or event in one’s own life and place it in vital contact with any single moment or event in the human life of Christ. And every single event of Christ’s life on earth must be considered as taking place in vital contact with each and every event in the lives of each and every member of his Mystical Body . . .

Dom M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.R. - from The Mystical Body: The Foundation of the Spiritual Life [quoted in Magnificat, April 2021]

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